Amy White and Al Petteway[3] are Grammy award–winning musicians whose wonderful American traditional music can be heard on the soundtracks of Ken Burns’ PBS documentaries.

We asked Amy to tell us more about “The Best Dog,” a tender song on her new CD, Home Sweet Home[4], and about the dogs who inspire her. This is her reply.

“‘The Best Dog’ isn’t so much about a particular dog as it is about this great, yet very fragile gift we receive from loving one.

“After a month of searching for the right match, we found Buki— our Collie mix—at the end of a row of cages at the Yancey County, N.C., animal shelter. A year later, we found him a companion at North Carolina Aussie Rescue. Kip is deaf, but he often listens better than his hearing-ear dog, Buki. Kip certainly heard me crying when I was recording the vocals for this song. And he gave me comfort when he saw it was needed.

“Dogs really are our best tonic. They get us out of the house, and out of our artistic funks, right out into the world. (And they do this almost effortlessly, too. That’s quite a feat for hermit-prone artists like us.)

“We are so grateful to our dogs for helping us embrace the moment, and for helping us to find our daily joy.”

The final verse of “The Best Dog” speaks volumes about losing a dog but finding another:You were the best dog, the best dog ever
How could I love someone new?
I will walk down the aisle ’til I find the cage
That holds a great spirit like you
We will sniff our hellos, we will bow our heads
And we’ll honor your beautiful life
It’ll be alright, ’cause we loved each other
Let’s go for a walk, you and I
It’ll be alright, ’cause we have each other
Let’s go for a walk, you and I